


white petals in my heart

by prithivas



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Strangers to Lovers, a Lot of birthdays..
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24814834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prithivas/pseuds/prithivas
Summary: What was it that made her want to see Edelgard again? The way they chatted so easily, despite both being horrible conversationalists, maybe. Or the fact that she could find comfort in this stranger's awkwardness, her seriousness.But here she was, once again; and unlike last time, it was her choice to be here.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Lysithea von Ordelia
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	white petals in my heart

* * *

**Winter: February 3rd**

* * *

_"(...) The second wave of the storm is said to hit after midnight, which will reportedly be more severe than the last one. We advise all of our listeners who are currently outside to find shelter as soon as-"_

Lysithea turned the radio off and furiously looked around her, driving slowly. The roads were mostly empty, as most people had logically already gone home _,_ so she didn't have to worry about anyone tooting their horn behind her. She was unsure of what to do; all the shops she'd seen were already closed, even pizzerias that were usually open late until the night. She still had a long way to go to get to her apartment, and there was absolutely no way she could drive for that long if the reports about the blizzard were true.

 _I should have at least taken my vitamins,_ she scolded herself. The party was hectic, as expected, and she was extremely tired. Driving in this state wasn't really ideal.

It was mostly her fault; she was supposed to have left Hilda's place early, but the birthday girl had nearly _begged_ for her to stay longer not once but multiple times. In the end, she had fun and it was nice to be with friends, but it was irresponsible nevertheless. ("It's a _party,_ " Claude had told her when she was whining, "we're supposed to be irresponsible!") The others were staying at her place, but that was not an option for Lysithea; she had gone to that party with nothing but a gift and the intention of leaving before midnight. Her friends understood, of course, so they didn't really force her to stay as they did to poor Ignatz.

She hadn't planned on driving through a blizzard at 23:45, though.

Eventually, she started contemplating parking somewhere and wait for as long as she could, until she turned around the corner and saw open lights at the end of the dark street. Was it a house, or could it be a public place? She doubted it was the former, but readied herself for the disappointment of it anyway. However, as she got closer, she realised that it was indeed a shop; a flower shop, in fact. How odd it was for a place that sold flowers to be open at this hour, at this weather, though she was glad nevertheless.

It'd gotten even colder since she left the party, Lysithea noted as she parked and got out of the car. She wrapped her arms around herself and made her way towards the shop as fast as she could - though she was extra careful with her steps because of the frosty roads. Through the glass, she could see a figure hunched over a table, reading what seemed like a book, and she felt immediate relief. It was hard to make anything out as ice was covering most of the surface, but she paid no mind. When she arrived at the door, she hesitantly knocked, startling the person inside.

" _Moin_ ," Lysithea said quite loudly through the little gap between the glass and the door. She didn't know what else to say, so instead, she just waved wordlessly.

The person stood still for a few seconds, but slowly got up and made their way to the door. It was only when they reached the door Lysithea realised the [ **CLOSED** ] sign on it, and she mentally smacked herself for it. How did she not _see_ -

When the door opened, she was met with a woman staring at her. "Can I help you?"

First thing she realised was the fact that she was shorter than Lysithea, maybe around Hilda's height. Though she looked quite mature, especially with her stern face and beady lilac eyes. Her outfit was very plain; pyjama pants and a loose hoodie, which was a clear sign that Lysithea was not supposed to be here, at this hour.

Her hair was a light shade of silver, she realised. It was neatly tied on her side. She tore her gaze away and looked at the sign on the door again.

"Sorry I - um, I didn't see this... I didn't mean to-"

"I heard the news about the second wave," the woman interrupted. "It's not a good idea to be outside in this weather. Please, come in." Lysithea was still unsure, but then the woman took a step back, clearly inviting her in. "I swear, it's alright. Don't just stand there like that."

So she reluctantly took a step inside, muttering a quiet and ashamed _thank you._ It was definitely warmer inside with the heater running; on top of that, the green wallpaper and many, tiny lamps hanging from the ceiling made the place seem very lively and bright despite the current weather. She stared at the flowers wordlessly: they were all beautiful, and everything here just felt _so_ cute for some reason.

The woman closed the door behind her and held out a hand - she was wearing thin, white gloves. Not the kind you would wear outside in the cold. "I could hang your coat if you want," she offered with a serious expression on her face as if she was examining her.

Lysithea felt more and more stressed out every second, she was unsure of what she was supposed to be doing, how she was supposed to act. "If you don't mind..." She started fumbling with her scarf and took her coat off in a hurry - she didn't take off her gloves and beanie. "Sorry, I really don't mean to be a bother."

"It is no problem," she reassured her once again as she took her coat, and disappeared into another room. Lysithea kept looking around as she stood there silently and rubbed her arms, somewhat afraid of moving. There was barely any place to move inside, with the number of flowers that surrounded her. Some hung from the ceiling, some were in pots, but they all looked so colourful, so beautiful. She'd not seen this much colour in one place since forever.

The woman came back after a short while and made her way to where she was sitting previously. Lysithea couldn't help but stare at her hair again for a few seconds - it was definitely unusual for some so young to have white hair like her, but she was not a big fan of making assumptions of any kind. She decided that it would be best to not think about it. It was for the best, likely for _both_ of their sake.

"You could sit down if you wish," the woman interrupted her thoughts, pointing at the seat at the other end of the small, wooden table. "I don't think it would be appropriate to treat you like a customer right now, but I could get you something to drink if you want?"

"That is very nice of you," Lysithea said as she slowly approached the empty seat. "But no, thank you. I just needed a shelter for the time being; again, thank you for letting me in." It took her a second to realise she had thanked her twice. _Stupid._

"Once again, it's quite alright," she said, offering her a tiny smile. "Well, I don't mean to sound creepy but, um, I guess I'm somewhat glad someone showed up."

It was a little bit creepy but she decided not to say that out loud, and instead asked, "Oh, why?" as she sat down.

"Ah, this is embarrassing... I usually don't sleep until late," explained the woman, her eyes on the book. "I live right upstairs with my friend. Whenever I have insomnia I tend to come down here to read so that I don't bother him. But it gets quite lonely here, especially during the winter."

Lysithea nodded. "Yeah, I would say winter is probably my least favourite season of the year.

When the woman looked back up at her, there was something in her expression that made Lysithea feel somewhat uneasy. As if she was contemplating something. "Yeah, uh, same..." A moment after, she shook her head to gain her focus back and once again held out her hand. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all of this. I'm Edelgard, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," she shook the woman's hand. She realised the gloves were made out of silk and really smooth, unlike her own cotton ones. "I'm Lysithea."

For a while, after letting go of the hands of each other, they didn't say a single word. Lysithea stared out of the window and was met with the sight of the snowstorm; even from the frosty windows, it looked really bad, and she was extremely glad that she was able to get inside before it had begun. She liked snow in theory; it was pretty, and it covered the ugliness of big, grey, ugly cities and metropoles. It made everything seem much simpler. And yet it caused so many problems in so many different ways, it reminded of dark, old days spent inside.

She heard a clattering sound and realised the woman had put her book down and was looking directly at her, somewhat awkwardly. Though even if she was uncomfortable, she didn't really show it.

"I'm... horrible at small talk," said Edelgard, most likely desperate to fill the silence, "but I'm terribly bored and this book is basically going nowhere, so I apologise in advance. But, erm..." She was so clearly trying to think of a conversation topic, wrinkling her nose. "Do you... live nearby?"

Both of them were awkwardly formal, Lysithea realised. It wasn't uncomfortable, though; wherever she went, she was used to being the awkward one. Generally, she had problems being friendly towards people that she didn't know too well, but right now, she felt like this awkward young woman was not that different from her - indeed, she was radiating some sort of _confidence_ with the way she walked and talked, and maybe she should've been intimidated by that; though looking at her worn-out face and the eye bags under her eyes, and the way she had been so kind to her since the beginning, and downright admitting she was having trouble sleeping to a stranger... She felt like she could talk to this stranger.

"No," she answered with a polite smile. "My apartment is in Bremen."

Edelgard seemed surprised. "Oh, what are you doing in Hamburg, at this hour?"

"Ah, well, it was my friends birthday today, a good friend of mine." For a moment, she contemplated whether she should go into detail or not, but she had nowhere to go and nothing else to do for at least a couple more hours, so... "I shared an apartment with her and a few more friends for three years during university, so we're all close. Though they all moved out one by one and I had to move to Bremen by myself."

"Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?" She sounded genuinely curious, and Lysithea had no idea why: it shouldn't be anything interesting, especially to someone she had just met, but maybe she was just truly bored.

"You know, it's quite expensive here. I found cheaper options for apartments, and also got accepted into the university there for my master."

That seemed to surprised Edelgard even further. "You're a masters student?" Lyishtea nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so-"

"Don't worry," she waved a hand dismissively. "I get that a lot; I look too young to be one and all. It's a long story, but when I finished Gymnasium in Poland, I applied to a different program and got accepted into university when I was 16."

Normally, no matter how many times she had said the exact same words, she would still get embarrassed every single time, or sometimes mad at the way people treated her because of her young age. And yet this time, the words were spilling effortlessly from her lips, and she didn't mind talking about it.

"That's quite impressive... Finishing high school so early and coming to live in a different country by yourself must've been hard." Lysithea blinked at her, her face suddenly feeling warm. Edelgard cleared her throat, but there was a tiny smile on her face. "So, that means you're Polish?"

"Well," she started explaining slowly, still feeling a tad embarrassed. "Yes, but I was actually born in Berlin, so I have dual citizenship. That's part of the reason I've been able to get into university, um, not _easily_ per se... It was just less paperwork?" Edelgard nodded affirmatively. "But yeah, I grew up in Poznań."

"I see. And how old are you now?"

"Almost 21." She tried to think of something else to say, change the subject maybe. Eventually, her curiosity got the best of her and she couldn't help but ask, "What about you?"

(Maybe she was also bored.)

The woman raised her eyebrows, a funny expression on her face. "What about me?"

"You know," she looked away for a second in hopes of appearing more nonchalant. "How old are you? Where are you from? Don't get me wrong, but you seem too nice to be from around here." And although she kept her tone flat, she couldn't help but smile saying it.

Edelgard laughed at that; it sounded more like a bark, not as gentle as her usual speech, though it was a nice laugh nevertheless. She covered her mouth almost immediately and cleared her throat, but she was still grinning as she started speaking. "Usually, people say the exact opposite, that I fit well here because I'm always so serious... But no, you're right. I'm actually from Milan."

That caught Lysithea off guard. "Wait, Milan?"

She laughed again, but it was more controlled this time. "Don't look like your typical rich kid, do I? I lived there until I was 8 years old, then we moved to France for a couple of years." Her grin slowly faded. "Not so many good memories there."

There was another moment of silence, but Edelgard recovered quickly and her expression shifted back into a serious yet awkward one. It was kind of funny. "Hamburg is nice I guess... My grand grandparents used to live here, or so I've been told. I met a lot of good people here - such as the friend sleeping upstairs. We run this shop together..." She snickered. "Well, obviously."

Was it normal to feel comforted by awkwardness?

"It's... Huh, what a coincidence," Lysithea giggled. "The friend I mentioned, she is also from Milan. That's why I was... um, taken aback, I guess?"

Edelgard stared at her. "Okay, yeah that's- that really is a weird coincidence... Would be funnier if we knew each other, wouldn't it?"

The thought of that possibility was... scary. "Indeed."

"Oh! I'm 22 by the way," she added afterwards. "Sorry, I completely forgot about that, my brain is all over the place right now. Are you _sure_ you don't want anything to drink?"

And Lysithea almost declined the offer again, but looking at Edelgard and the bags under her eyes made her realise that she needed a drink more than anyone else. "What do you have?"

"How about some tea?" She nodded and watched Edelgard get up from her seat. "Great, I will be back as soon as possible. Make yourself comfortable, yeah?"

She didn't make herself comfortable at all.

While they drank tea, they kept the conversation light: Edelgard asked her about biochemistry and what she enjoyed about it, and in return, Lysithea asked about her education. She learned that Edelgard played the harp and that she'd started learning how to do so at a very young age (it wasn't that surprising, she did give off the energy). Apparently, she had attended a conservatory here but had to drop out in her last year.

"I'm not too sad about it," she explained, and she didn't look sad either. "I never meant to do it professionally anyway, and I can still play the harp without any problem. That's all I could ask for." Lysithea almost said _I'd like to hear you play._ She didn't really know where it came from, they hadn't even known each other for a full hour, after all, so she didn't voice that thought.

When Edelgard asked her whether she had a job or not, she started talking about how she used to work at a production studio part-time, before she ended up doing commissions on twitter. Edelgard talked about her experience in the flower shop for a while, and Lysithea listened patiently.

After the tea, however, they both sat in silence for quite a long time. Lysithea sketched some of the flowers around her on her phone for a while, and scrolled through twitter mindlessly; meanwhile, Edelgard went back to reading her book (it was actually a play, Lysithea later realised, when she looked up the author's name). Though the silence wasn't necessarily bad, she was still an hour away from her apartment and still very tired, though necessarily not sleepy, and it did make her worry a bit. Would she be able to get home in time, get enough sleep before the sun rose?

It was exactly 02:34 when Lysithea heard a soft yawn. She looked up to see Edelgard staring at her with droopy eyes, her cheeks pink, and said "Tired?"

"Well," the woman tried to say but was interrupted by another yawn. She looked cute. "I guess I finally hit my limit."

Lysithea looked outside; the storm had stopped nearly half an hour ago, but she'd decided to wait for a while longer, knowing well that had she gone out right after, the roads would still be horribly icy. She hoped they were taken care of, at least a little bit. "You should go to bed then," she said thoughtfully. "It's time I leave anyway."

"Are you sure?" The hint of concern in Edelgard's voice made her feel a bit fuzzy, for some unknown reason. She was obviously tired and on the verge of falling asleep right where she stood. "You could stay a little longer, the roads are... Um..."

"I'll be fine," Lysithea reassured her. "The earlier I get home the better. And, well, I don't wanna keep you up any longer."

Edelgard got up from her seat slowly. "You're not the one keeping me up," she said, then headed to the room she'd disappeared before without elaborating. Lysithea grabbed her phone and keys and slowly made her to the door, her eyes wandering around the shop once again. She wasn't really a flower person or anything of the sort, but she appreciated their beauty anyway. There were a lot of different ones, some of them she had never seen in her entire life, and they all looked so full of life. She wondered if they were the ones growing them.

"Any of them interest you in particular?" The woman had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "I'm not the flower expert of this shop, but I know the basics."

Lysithea looked around to find any that truly seemed interesting, but they all looked like... flowers. "How about this one," she pointed at some cute, white ones at the back of the counter.

"Those are _Helleborus niger,_ or Christmas rose," she explained. "I don't know why people call them roses, but anyway. They are quite stubborn if you ask me, not that easy to take care of. These ones are also poisonous!"

"You're selling poisonous flowers?" the other asked, appalled.

Edelgard sighed. "You don't know my friends... Well, if you want one, I could give you-"

"No, thank you," Lysithea cut her off quickly. Edelgard sighed again, but she was smiling. "Maybe next time I visit?"

"Next time? Well, I'll be waiting."

They stood there in silence while Lysithea just- looked at her, the way she stood stubbornly in her pyjamas, obviously sleepy, and her tired smile. Despite everything, she was glad to have met Edelgard, glad that she was the person that she ended up getting stuck in a snowstorm with. Something about the woman felt so familiar, and she couldn't help but think their meeting was somehow... Fateful. She didn't believe such things, but the thought of it was interesting. Every little action leading to this moment, consequences, time and all that. Maybe it was nice, even.

"It was nice meeting you," she said, holding out her hand. Edelgard smiled and shook her hand, and though they have not made direct contact, she could still feel the warmth of her hand. It definitely felt nice.

"Likewise. Drive safe!"

And she didn't know why but looking at her lilac eyes, Lysithea hoped they would see each other again.

* * *

**Spring: May 9th**

* * *

_"And so I told him if he didn't at least_ try _the cake, I would never allow him to set foot in my apartment ever again. Isn't that fair? I mean, me and Mercie spent three entire hours on it yesterday!"_

"I think that's completely fair," Lysithea approved, tapping on her steering wheel with both hands as she waited for the light to turn green. "I know Felix hates cake - which, you know, is a crime by itself, but I don't know why he would make such a big fuss about it."

Annette huffed on the other side of the line. _"Well, technically he didn't actually make a fuss about it or anything, but he was so grumpy the entire time after that! Asshole. He's so insufferable!"_

The light turned green, and the traffic started moving once again. "Oh I thought - well, never mind. Then you shouldn't be so worked up about this!" Before the other could say anything, she continued, "Annie, you basically threatened him, I think he's allowed to be grumpy."

 _"Ugh, whatever. I still want to punch his dumb face though."_ Lysithea laughed at that, she sounded like a little kid saying that. "Fine, I won't let anything ruin my mood today. I can't wait to see you, Lysie! It's been so long, I wish I could've made it to Hilda's party."

"I'll be there soon enough," she said cheerfully. "Thankfully it's not raining today."

The weather was better than it had been the last few days, and for that Lysithea was glad. It wasn't necessarily warm or sunny, which she was quite happy about since the sun could be a _lot_ sometimes, but it was warm enough to remind her that summer was on its way. She did not like the unpredictable weather that came with spring, but at least there were days like these that she could enjoy.

 _"You know, it's still quite early - hold on, what time is it?"_ There was a short pause. _"It's not even eleven yet, no one's supposed to be here until around five. What's the occasion?"_

She stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of a convincing lie, but Annette would most likely see right through it and immediately call her out. "I was thinking of, um, visiting. Somewhere. Someone."

_"Ohhh, really? And who is this 'someone' exactly?"_

"You see," she hurriedly said while parking, "I actually _just_ arrived there, so I'm gonna have to hang up! See you in an hour, love you!" And right when Annette was starting to whine, she hung up and unbuckled her belt. When she got out of the car, she was greeted by the tiny flower shop, looking slightly different in the daylight: somewhat more lively and cuter.

She was nervous, which was unusual, and weird. There was nothing to worry about, was there? They had only met once, it's not like Edelgard would even remember her name. This time, she was just a mere customer, not someone in need of help; she had nothing to worry about, absolutely nothing at all, why would she? It was just a simple occasion, there was _no reason_ to be nervous.

(She was nervous.)

When she arrived at the door, she almost knocked on it, but her fist hung in the air when her eyes met the [ **OPEN** ] sign. It shouldn't have caught her off guard, but she couldn't help staring at it for a few seconds before she eventually lowered her hand and opened the door, stepping inside determinedly. There was no one inside besides the people behind the counter, who seemed to be having a conversation.

Two of them, she didn't know: one of them had green hair and wore a gardening apron and ugly, rubber gloves, and his eyes were lidded like he was about to fall asleep. The other had dark hair and pale skin, and his outfit was very formal - he wore a black blazer and a white shirt, in _this weather_ , like a madman. There was something about the two that she couldn't really describe.

And then, there was another face in the middle of the other two.

"Welcome to- oh." Edelgard stopped her greeting and stared at the other woman, agape. She looked quite different, with her hair down and the apron she wore. Instead of her silk gloves, she had green rubber ones that matched the other man's. She also looked incredibly tiny standing next to the two, who first looked at Lysithea, then at her. It was scary that they were in complete sync.

"Welcome," the green-haired man said, eyebrows raised. "How can we help you?" Edelgard was still frozen in place. The other man was staring at Lysithea suspiciously.

Maybe she had a reason to be nervous after all.

"Um," she said, looking around. "I'm here for... flowers? Yeah, I wanted to buy some flowers." The man seemed unimpressed by that. She gulped.

Edelgard blinked a couple of times and finally looked away. "Hey, Lin, why don't you take a break? I, uh, I can handle this one."

The dark-haired man looked back at her. "Edel-"

"Ugh, thank _God_ ," the other exclaimed (Lin?) and took off his apron and gloves in the blink of an eye. "I'll take it. Was nice to see you Hubert, goodbye!" And with that, he fled the scene. Both of them looked after him with such distress that Lysithea didn't know what to make of it.

Edelgard then turned to the man who seemed to be named _Hubert._ "Aren't you late to work?"

"I am not," he answered, and his voice was incredibly low and quiet. "If you wish to get rid of me so much, you could just outright say so."

"Ugh, I do _not,_ " she protested, rubbing her face with both hands - Lysithea couldn't stop looking at the hideous gloves. "Will you just let me _deal with the customer?_ "

Hubert looked at Lysithea once again with the same suspicion. "Sure, I'll take my leave." He started heading towards the door, not taking his eyes off her. Edelgard waved at him with the same distressed look on her face. "Don't forget about your appointment," was his last words before he opened the door and finally tore his gaze away. Lysithea let out the breath she had been holding.

When they were alone in the shop, Edelgard groaned loudly. "Sorry about that, we usually don't get customers before midday, so we were just... You know, um. Yeah."

Now, that was the awkwardness that was somewhat familiar, that she could get used to. "It's alright..," she started but didn't know what else to say.

"Anyway, welcome!" This time, she offered Lysithea a friendly smile and slowly approached her. "It's good to see you again."

She already knew the answer, but she couldn't help but ask, "You remember me?"

Edelgard scoffed. "No, absolutely not. What's your name?" She was using a funny tone - _ah,_ she realised, _that's sarcasm, isn't it._

"Lysithea," she held out her hand while smiling. She was wearing the same gloves as last time, but she hoped Edelgard wouldn't ask about it. "Nice to meet you, miss...?"

Before they shook hands, Edelgard looked at her hands and came to the wonderful decision of taking her horrid gloves off, revealing the white, silky gloves underneath them. She put them in one of the pockets of the apron and grabbed Lysithea's hand. "Edelgard, the pleasure is all mine."

They both giggled. "You know, I changed my mind. You really do belong here after all."

"Just wait until you hear my terrible jokes," Edelgard said, obviously trying her hardest not to laugh. "Okay, here's one-"

Lysithea took a step back. "Hey um, actually? I changed my mind, I don't want flowers anymore - ahem, _I'll take my leave,_ " she tried to impersonate Hubert by lowering her voice but failed miserably. It earned her a laugh from Edelgard, though.

"Oh, I _wish_ you'd done that in front of him-"

"Are you _kidding me?_ He was looking at me like he wanted to get rid of me!"

Edelgard laughed again, and it was more high pitched this time. She covered her mouth. "Please don't worry about him, that's how he usually is." Lysithea stared at her. "I swear! He can come off as cold, but really - okay, doesn't matter. How can I help you? Do you want to look around? Anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," she declined politely. "I'm here to get some flowers for a friend. It's her birthday."

"Oh, another birthday!" It seemed she remembered last time probably as much as Lysithea did. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be this surprising. "I see. Do you have anything in mind?"

Lysithea shook her head. "No, but I want it to be something... simple. Nothing fancy."

"Take a seat," she pointed at the same table they sat together at months ago, "I'll see what I can do."

So she did; she sat down and started watching the woman look around, expression completely serious once again. It was weird to see her like this after last time, or rather it was weird to see her again, but she was glad to be back. Maybe it was weird, they'd only had met once and was more or less stuck with one another, and yet she felt so comforted by the presence of Edelgard for some unknown reason. They were technically still strangers, barely acquaintances, and yet Lysithea felt like she'd known her for a long time.

"Your uniform is interesting," she said out of nowhere. "Do you grow all these plants, or...?"

Edelgard turned to her with a smirk. "Not really? Only some of them, but we do take care of all of them ourselves. The uniforms are... um. It's a long story."

"I have the time."

She scoffed, but the smirk stayed in place. "Well, okay - so you saw Linhardt, yeah? The one with the green hair." Lysithea nodded. "So in his last year, he suddenly took an interest in flowers specifically, _of all things._ He was a biology major, by the way, you two would probably get along - but yeah, one day he came up to me and was like, _Edelgard,"_ she lowered her voice and started talking slower in an attempt to impersonate. " _You don't understand, they are all so interesting, I need to learn more._ Well, I don't remember what he said exactly, but in the end, he was losing sleep over flowers instead of studying for his finals.

"He got his degree, good for him, still have no idea how he did it though. Right after graduating, he comes up to me and says he wants to become a florist; but since he's a _lazy bitch,"_ she glared at the yellow, metal door, which Lysithea assumed led to their apartment upstairs, "he dragged me and another friend in. Surprisingly though, he ended up being incredibly good at this; he really enjoys flower arrangements despite the fact that he is _horrible_ with people. That was the part the other friend helped with but she moved to Vienna and left _me_ to do all the talking."

Lysithea smiled. "You don't like it?"

"Hm," she contemplated. "I don't necessarily hate it, and I really am trying my best to talk to people nowadays. She was definitely better at this than me though. I mostly enjoy arranging and taking care of the flowers."

"That's cute," Lysithea said without thinking too much about it, but when Edelgard blinked at her and went back to looking at the flowers, she thought _maybe that wasn't the best thing to say._ "Um, but what about... the aprons?"

"Right," she continued, a tad more quietly. "So, at one point, Linhardt almost lost interest in flowers, he wasn't really having that much fun at work. The other friend, Dorothea, decided to do something about it." She chuckled. "One day, she came with the aprons and gloves in her hands - and she was wearing her own set too! She basically forced us to wear them for a whole workday and you know what? I have no idea why or how, but it actually _did_ motivate him. Since then, we've been wearing these ugly 'uniforms' every day."

Lysithea let out a laugh. "I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't _this._ " Edelgard laughed as well, then went back to looking around.

It was silent after that, she didn't want to distract the florist from her work. Annette had sent her a few messages asking about the _mysterious place_ and her _secret lover,_ but she decided to ignore them. Though, seeing the words secret lover as she watched Edelgard made her feel a bit... Weird. They didn't even know each other all that well, except they did know quite a few things about another from the time they spent 2 hours talking about nothing but themselves. But it was only basic stuff, wasn't it? She had only talked to Edelgard once, or twice if she were to count today, and that wasn't enough to really get to know someone, wasn't it?

Did she want to get to know her better though? Maybe.

What was the reason she'd come back? What was it that made her want to see Edelgard again? The way they chatted so easily, despite both being horrible conversationalists, maybe. Or the fact that she could find comfort in this stranger's awkwardness, her seriousness. It could be that she was simply curious about her, but what had piqued her interest about Edelgard? Maybe it was the things she'd listed before, maybe something else that she didn't know about.

But here she was, once again; and unlike last time, it was her choice to be here.

"Do you think your friend's a fan of tulips?"

She looked up to see Edelgard pointing at a bunch of colourful flowers- tulips. She had seen tulips before, but they'd been a singular colour most of the time. Seeing so many different colours together made all of them look more unique, more beautiful. "I think she would like them," she said, not taking her eyes off of the flowers. "Do they have, um, a meaning?"

"I think they just symbolise love in general," she shrugged. "Sorry, flower language is Lin's area of interest, not mine. I do remember him telling me a story about two lovers, though."

The yellow door opened, revealing a yawning Linhardt. "They have _names,_ Edelgard," he started in the middle of yawning, "they're not just two random lovers you can talk about so dismissively. If you can remember Romeo and Juliet, you can also remember Ferhad and Shirin."

Edelgard sighed. "You're back early."

"I wonder why," he deadpanned, pointing at the clock on the wall. It was ten minutes away from eleven. "You haven't been paying attention, were you?"

"Shit," her eyes went wide as she hurriedly took off her apron. "I completely forgot, Hubert even _reminded me_ before he left -" she turned to Lysithea with an apologetic look. "I'm so, _so_ sorry-"

Lysithea shook her head. "You don't have to apologise. Thank you for the help!"

"I didn't do much," she said while throwing her apron on the counter carelessly, and Lysithea got the chance to see the outfit she had underneath it: some basic jeans and a red, dotted blouse with shoulder pads. It looked cute, yet professional; very on-brand. "Well, Linhardt can help you from here- hold on, how did you even realise it was time?"

Linhardt rolled his eyes. "I had an alarm set up for it." Edelgard looked at him wordlessly, but eventually, her eyes softened and she gave him a tiny smile. "Ugh, _you're welcome_ , now leave before you miss the bus."

"Alright, I'm leaving... Please eat something before I come back, and drink water, for _fuck's sake._ " She looked at Lysithea one last time and smiled at her. "It was... nice talking to you."

Lysithea waved at her, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, same..." And even after she left, she watched her walk to the bus stop through the window, shielding her eyes with one hand. The sun made her pale skin glow, or maybe it was just her imagination, and she looked pretty. Not that she wasn't already pretty, but she looked different than she did inside. She was sad that they didn't get the chance to talk for that long, but it was nice to see her again, at the same exact place.

She'd never seen Edelgard outside the shop. (She'd only seen Edelgard twice.)

Someone beside her cleared her throat - Linhardt, she remembered. "Oh, sorry," she cleared her throat and turned to him. "I, um. I got distracted."

He looked quite amused. "Clearly. You're Lysithea?" She nodded, feeling embarrassed. "I figured, you really do look like someone mad enough to study biochemistry."

"Excuse me?" She was caught off guard.

"Sorry, I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just bizarre that people actually, genuinely enjoy chemistry." He walked up to the table and sat down on the chair on the opposite side, eyes on Lysithea. "So, your friend. Annette, was it? She sounds great, to be honest. Friendly, chipper, can be hot-headed, likes singing and going to concerts... What else was there..."

Lysithea stood still as the words settled in, and came to the realisation, "You were listening in on us?"

He shrugged, still amused. "The stairs are actually a great nap spot, no matter how many times Edelgard says otherwise. But that doesn't matter - I'm gonna ask a few questions to create, ahem, _the perfect bouquet_ for your friend. Let me get my notebook."

And so he did, and so Lysithea answered him. It was awkward at first, she didn't know what to say or how to explain anything, and she was still confused about what he had previously said _. How much did he actually hear? Did he do it on purpose?_ Though Linhardt didn't seem to have a problem understanding her and took notes while looking around the shop, mumbling to himself. The questions were simple, but he seemed to take her answers very seriously; it was as if she was taking a personality test, and it wasn't even for herself.

Linhardt was really fun to talk to, she realised, when they suddenly moved on to the topic of genomics (how random), though he was the one that did most of the talking. It was fine, obviously, but it was different than how she felt with Edelgard. Was it weird? Linhardt and her definitely had a lot more in common and she felt comfortable, but it wasn't the same comfort she had felt when she was talking to Edelgard. Nevertheless, after a while she somehow found herself listening to Linhardt talk shit about marine biologists and couldn't help but argue with him about it. It was really fun - just different.

He did end up talking about Edelgard as well, out of nowhere. "You know," he said after finishing his rant about _fishing olympics_ , "I thought Edelgard was exaggerating when she told me about you, but you really are an interesting person... Easy to talk to. No wonder she- well, never mind." Lysithea almost asked him to elaborate, but her mouth felt extremely dry and she couldn't say a single word. Even if she could, she supposed she would not be able to do it before Linhardt moved on to another topic. "Do you ever realise how ' _save the bees'_ is treated like a complete joke and not an actual, serious issue?"

After what seemed to be three hours, though really it was only twenty minutes, he got up and announced that he'd gotten a general idea about her and her friends, and got to work. Watching him work was fascinating, it was clear that his relationship with the flowers was more... Intimate, compared to Edelgard. He picked every single one carefully and handled them as if they could break any second, and when he showed her the bouquet, her mouth fell open.

"That looks beautiful," she gasped, making her way to the counter. The flowers he'd pick somehow screamed Annette to her, she didn't exactly know how. It was very colourful, with orange and light blue as the dominant colours. There was also a card that said _Happy birthday,_ written in cursive. "She will definitely love this! Thank you so much."

"I also have this," he said, handing her a single orange tulip. "Not from me, though, pretend it's from Edelgard. The way you two talked reminded me of this."

Lysithea did not know what to make of it. "What is- what does it symbolise?"

He shrugged. "Google is free. That will be twenty-five euros."

She paid for them as Linhardt yawned loudly, seemingly not caring enough to appear like a _decent person_ in front of the customer. It was quite refreshing, but she was probably the only person to think so. He talked about the flowers a little bit more and Lysithea listened to him patiently, until he started dozing off in the middle of his sentences.

"So," he started before she could grab the bouquet, and there was suddenly a pen in his hand, different than the one he had before. She had no idea where it came from. "Can you do me a favour?"

Lysithea blinked. "Ah, depends?"

He scribbled something on a separate piece of paper and handed it to her. "Please, I'm begging you - this is Edelgard's number, text her the first chance you get. I would ask for yours and give it to her but I know for a fact that her _dumb ass_ would take ages to even simply write a 'hi', _ugh._ I hate her so much."

And once again, Lysithea blinked. "Her... number. You're giving me her number. Wouldn't she be mad?"

"Oh, she will definitely beat me up for it," he stated casually, "but not because she would get mad... Just trust me on this one _,_ okay?"

After their conversation, Lysithea didn't know whether it was a good idea to trust Linhardt or not, but she nodded and grabbed the bouquet without a single word anyway. They stood there in complete silence, and she was almost certain Linhardt was half asleep.

"It was nice talking to you," she said to grab his attention.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved his hand, smiling. He wasn't looking at her. "If you wanna talk to me again, ask Edelgard for my number. So that I'll have proof you actually _did_ message her."

Lysithea giggled at that. "Sure, why not... Have a nice day, thank you again!"

Before she started the engine of her car, she made sure to send the number Linhardt gave her a text that simply read, _hi, this is lysithea,_ the single tulip still in her hand. It was basic, but it was a start, the beginning of something.

Or so she hoped, at least.

* * *

** Summer: July 24th**

* * *

_"For only 9€, you can also achieve your dreams of becoming a pelican right now! All you have to do is call us, and you will get these beautiful set of wings and a pouch-"_

Lysithea changed the station without looking up from her screen, reading unread messages from the group chat to see what she'd missed while she was driving. She landed on a music station and they were playing one of the popular songs she hated, but she couldn't be bothered to whine about it.

Of course, the chat was a mess, as expected.

**[hilda g. at 14:25]:** helloo?? any1 in this fucking chat know how 2 dm e/o????

 **[raphael k. at 14:25]:** claüd buddy R U ok

 **[lorenz g. at 14:26]:** No, he is not.

 **[lorenz g. at 14:26]** : He has been whining because Fauna decided to move out.

 **[leonie p. at 14:26]:** ur crying over ANIMAL CROSSING.. dudee

 **[khalid r. at 14:26]:** im gonan missh;r so fuckign @mcuhhdhf

 **[me at 14:26]:** i literally cant stand any of u

 **[me at 14:26]:** 379 mssgs in 30 mins? stfu

 **[mari e. at 14:26]:** lysie!!

 **[leonie p. at 14:26]:** LYSITHEA

 **[raphael k. at 14:26]:** LYSITHEA

 **[lorenz g. at 14:26]:** Stop crytyping?

 **[hilda g. at 14:26]:** LYSITHEA

 **[ignatz v. at 14:26]:** hi lysithea

 **[khalid r. at 14:27]:** im. Literally never gonna be abel to get ovxr this. c,cance,l my birtday cancel the month the entire year i dnot want to live in thi; s wold anymo r e, ,

 **[me at 14:27]:** waitig for the order rn

 **[me at 14:27]:** claude stfu

 **[leonie p. at 14:27]:** claude stfu

 **[hilda g. at 14:27]:** LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 **[raphael k. at 14:27]:** YEAAAAHHHHH :D :D

 **[me at 14:27]:** but i might be late

 **[me at 14:27]:** the traffic here s insane

 **[mari e. at 14:27]:** thats okay (:

 **[lorenz g. at 14:28]:** Please do not worry, Lysithea. We can heat everything up before we eat.

 **[hilda g. at 14:28]:** yaya

 **[hilda g. at 14:28]:** but like still hurry tho mcrowaved food taste bad

 **[khalid r. at 14:28]:** oh seriously tysm for that thea

 **[khalid r. at 14:28]:** but if you excuse me im gonna go back to crytyping

 **[me at 14:29]:** i hate u

She heard someone knocking on her window and quickly locked her phone, startled. It was a tall, green-haired man with three large paper bags in one hand. She quickly rolled down her windows and held out her hand to take them one by one. It was likely that she was being judged for ordering- well, way too much. There were at least 10 burgers and a single McMuffin in there.

"Have a nice day," he said, obviously elevating her, then left. Lysithea put the bags in the backseat, put her phone down, put her gloves on and left the drive-thru in a hurry. Shit was depressing in there.

There was a slight chance that there wasn't really that much traffic, and Lysithea may or may not have lied about it in order to pay a surprise visit to Edelgard - and Linhardt, of course. They'd been talking in the last few months, not exactly frequently, and Lysithea had gotten to know both of them a little bit better. All of them were bad at starting a conversation, holding a conversation, constantly changed topics; so they were horrible texters. Eventually, they'd started talking in a group chat more, but it was mostly Edelgard and Linhardt bickering, calling each other sluts and all that. They had also facetimed on Edelgard's birthday, though not to celebrate - Linhardt had told her that she didn't really like her birthday, and wanted nothing but solitude on that day. Still, they had a good time just chatting about nothing.

She enjoyed talking to them.

They hadn't talked in the past two weeks, and Lysithea did almost message their group chat to announce that she would be dropping by, but in the end, she decided not to. Or rather, she was scared to text them first after the long period of silence. She'd shown up unannounced before, so it would be fine, right? Though she assumed they were more than acquaintances now; friends, maybe. But she didn't text them anyway, so it didn't matter.

In only a few minutes she'd arrived at the location, and she was feeling nervous once again. This time was different than the others, wasn't it? They've been keeping in touch, they've been talking, but she hadn't really seen Edelgard's face in so long. Linhardt had sent some unflattering pictures of her, which she'd saved instantly, and Edelgard had sent a few on her own too; but it just wasn't the same. Of course it wasn't.

When Lysithea stepped inside, the person who greeted her was a complete stranger.

"Hey there," he spoke in English, "may I help you?"

The stranger had bright red hair and a stupid grin on his face, and it seemed he didn't speak German. He also did not have the _uniform_ on, which was both alarming and maybe, just maybe, somewhat relieving. Mostly alarming. She remembered Edelgard mentioning another friend once, but she was pretty sure whoever stood in front of her wasn't that person.

He waved at her, grin slowly fading. "Um, _hallo? Wie geht's?_ Did you not understand me, or...?"

Lysithea shook her head. "No, ah, I was caught off guard." She hadn't really spoken English in a while, so the words came out kind of... weirdly.

"I tend to have that effect on people," he winked. "You know, they say I'm breathtaking."

She only blinked at him. "Okay... Is Edelgard here?"

"Ooh, you know El?" His expression shifted into something different, something more genuine rather than 'customer friendly'. "She didn't really mention any friend dropping by today... But no, she's not here."

And that was more than disappointing, of course, but also worrying - it seemed Linhardt wasn't there either, which couldn't be anything good, right?

"Wait," he suddenly said, in a bright tone. "You do fit the description- oh man, are you Lysithea?" She stood still, but managed to nod despite her shock. Why was it that everyone here knew her name even before she got the chance to introduce herself? "Oh, I should've realised sooner, sorry. I'm Sylvain, by the way! I'm visiting El for, what, a week? She's basically like my sister, I've known her even before she could walk on two feet."

Childhood friends, then. Sylvain was a friend of Edelgard, who was not here, and he somehow knew who she was. So much for being a stranger in this shop. "Are you from Milan?" she asked to confirm.

"Born and raised," he winked again.

"Right, I can tell." She walked up to the counter as he gasped, putting a hand on his chest. It was obviously an exaggeration, but it irritated Lysithea beyond words. "Why are you here?"

Sylvain barked, and it sounded a lot like how Edelgard laughed; he did not bother covering his mouth, however. "Gee, that's harsh. I can leave if you don't want me?" She just kept looking at him. "Right, El is still at the hospital, I switched with Linhardt like an hour ago. Basically I'm covering his shift right now."

She looked at him in confusion. "Hospital?" _Still?_

His face fell quite fast. "Oh," he mumbled. "I guess makes sense you don't know, yeah... She had surgery a few days ago, so she won't be coming back here for at least a week or so." When he saw Lysithea's eyes widen, he added, "Don't worry! She's doing alright, it's just... Ah, aftercare? Sorry, no idea what it's actually called."

Surgery, a few days ago. She wasn't really mad at them or anything of the sort, absolutely not, she understood that there was really no reason to bring it up while they were talking, but that did explain the reason they haven't really been talking to her all that much. "I see... But she's okay?"

"Yeah!" he answered enthusiastically. "She's doing wonderful, almost beat my ass a couple of hours ago. Well, not physically, she just berated me a _little_ bit.I did deserve it though, that much is clear."

Lysithea sighed, partly in relief. "That's good then. I wish I knew before I came."

"Man," he sighed as well, "she did actually mention wanting to text you while I was there. Talked about you a bit."

She could feel her face heat up at his words. "Really..? Should I text her then?"

Sylvain narrowed his eyes. "No... No, before that, why don't we sit down and chat? Do you want something to drink?"

It felt weird when Edelgard wasn't the one asking the question. "No, thanks."

They sat down, and Sylvain automatically started talking, as if he was unable to stop. He mostly talked about Edelgard and his relationship with him, how they kept in touch even after she moved out or how they had caused trouble together as kids. It was fun to listen to, but she was unsure whether she should have been talking or not. Sylvain didn't seem to mind her hesitation, though, and carried the entire conversation.

Probably the first time Lysithea had felt awkward inside the shop was right now, facing this very verbal dude going from one topic to another; much like Linhardt, but with a more controlled attitude and a lack of interest - not in the topic itself, but rather the conversation.

"She did talk about _someone_ ," he wiggled his eyebrows. "just a few days ago. You fit the description, I mean how many people have white hair around here?"

"A lot," she tried to say steadily but could feel her pulse quicken. "There are a lot of people over the age of 70 here, I think."

Sylvain hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, forgot about the _gilfs_... Should've taken them into consideration."

She felt exhausted all of a sudden. "What."

"Nothing! So white hair, bangs, cute mouth, hm... What else was there..." His tone indicated that he was actually serious this time, in comparison to his aloofness whenever he made stupid remarks. "Intimidating eyes, yup - can definitely agree on that."

 _Intimidating?_ "She thinks I'm... intimidating?"

"I think it's just your eyes," he shrugged. "But she didn't really say anything else. How do you know each other? If you don't mind me asking that, I'm just curious - but, um, I get it if you don't want to talk to a stranger."

The thing was that Lysithea somehow found it quite easy to trust the strangers she had met in this shop, barely hesitating when she told them about herself. Sylvain seemed to be more outgoing and relaxed than the others, but he didn't really seem like a bad person. Plus, he was friends with Edelgard, since they were kids even, it couldn't really be that bad. Right?

So she talked about their first encounter and how they talked in the middle of the snowstorm outside, how they drank tea and she almost fell asleep while Lysithea was there. Sylvain didn't say anything and listened to her talk, nodding and making noises of affirmation to make sure she knew he was paying attention. When she was done, the first thing he said was,

"That sounds like it came straight out of a rom-com."

Lysithea stilled. "Um, y-yeah kind of..."

"Aw, you look cute when you blush!" He chuckled, as Lysithea buried her head in her arms with a distressed sigh. "Sorry, force of habit. It's true though! You really are cute, and you seem like a good person. No wonder Edelga-ahh, um- ahem." He coughed awkwardly.

She stole a glance at him, barely lifting her head. "Hm?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all..." He chuckled again, but this time he sounded nervous. "Shouldn't go around making assumptions, right? Anyway! What do you think of El? I mean she's great, I know, but I want to hear... Your opinions?"

Lysithea sat back up but didn't say anything.

"Okay," he nodded after a while. "It's fine, sorry for pressuring-"

"No, you're not pressuring me," she offered him a smile, and it must have caught him off guard because he shut his mouth immediately. She then looked back down. "I just.... I don't really know what to say? I mean she's great and, um..."

There were a lot of words in the English vocabulary to explain Edelgard probably, but she found it hard to put what she thought of her into words. It was weird, to know how she felt and have so much difficulty trying to explain it to someone else; because how she saw Edelgard was unique to her, was it not? What Lysithea saw when she looked at her was different, and Sylvain also knew that, but she found great difficulty in choosing the right things to say - they never felt enough, not _unique._

So she made it unique to herself, made sure no one would know the way she felt other than herself. "I can say it in my language?"

His eyes went wide. "Oh? Well, go ahead."

"Okay... _Jest urocza, i... piękna... Wiesz, mogła mnie zrozumieć, ufam jej. Chcę jej ufać."_ She took a deep breath before looking back up. "She's... She's just great."

"Man," Sylvain whispered with a smile on his face and grabbed his phone on the table. "You two really are similar. _Beautiful,_ huh?"

She froze in place, before near-shouting, " _You know Polish?"_

He shrugged. "Just a few words. Now, I'm gonna do something real quick, don't mind me." He tapped on his screen a few times before putting it back on the table; the screen read _sorellina_ with two red heart emojis that followed, and-

Lysithea's eyes grew. "No, are you-" But before she could finish her question, the person answered the call.

" _Cosa vuoi, stronzino?_ "

It was Edelgard, without any doubt; though she did sound a bit different than usual. She couldn't tell if it was because she was speaking Italian, because her accent was completely different than how it was when she spoke German; her voice was a tad higher, the seriousness replaced with something more playful, probably since it was Sylvain she was talking to. Or maybe it was because she sounded so low on energy, like she was whispering; yet the indication of a threat was still clear in her tone.

"Yo, El," Sylvain started in a chipper tone, eyes set on Lysithea - probably to make sure she didn't say anything, as if she could. "So I have a customer here with me, and I'm kind of struggling. Can you help me out?"

She suddenly switched to English, which was yet again another slap in the face for Lysithea. "Can you not ask Lin? You know he's better than me." Her voice was more low-pitched now, surprisingly.

"He's still mad at me for eating the last slice yesterday," he explained with a pout as if she could see him. "Come on, they are literally right in front of me."

A sigh. "Okay, shoot."

The grin on Sylvain's face was... Off-putting. "So this person," he was still looking at her. "They want to show gratitude, I think? Not gonna go into detail, but it's supposed to be something that says, _thank you for understanding me._ "

Lysithea's mouth fell open.

"I see..." Edelgard hummed. "Maybe hydrangeas? They, uh, symbolise heartfelt emotions? Something that comes from deep within. Purple ones, that is, not the other colours."

Sylvain beamed. "Nice! Purple, is it? That's quite a detailed explanation, coming from someone who, ahem, isn't good at this."

A silence on the other side of the line. Then, "I did, um, did some research a while back..."

" _Oooh,"_ he cooed. "Is there someone you feel grateful for?"

"Don't you have a customer to deal with?" she hurriedly asked, before adding. "Okay, I'm hanging up, whatever, goodbye."

The call ended in milliseconds, and as soon as it did, Lysithea opened her mouth. " _Nie cierpię was więcej niż słowa mogą wyjaśniać_ ," she hissed at him, voice cracking at the end. "I- I can't believe this!"

"I'm sorry!" he said with both hands up like he was surrendering. "That was kind of a dick move, I admit, but I just wanted you to hear you're not the only one who feels that way." Lysithea was going through a series of unknown emotions, still trying to calm herself down, and couldn't bring herself to open her mouth again after that. Sylvain continued. "Just... I don't know how to say it, but El doesn't really talk about anything going on in her life, even with her closest friends. The fact that she mentioned your name to me is actually a big deal, you know? And the way she looked when she did... I just- ah, forget it." He suddenly got up and started looking around the shop. "So... Where are they...."

" _Just a few words_ ," she mocked his earlier statement, eventually. "Why did you lie right to my face?"

"I told you, you're similar to Edelgard and I figured I'd try and help you out the way I usually help her."

"By lying to her?" She was fuming now.

"By indirectly showing her there is nothing to worry about," he said softly. "My intention wasn't to be a bitch, not right now at least, but if I were to tell you myself that she likes you... you wouldn't believe me. I had to prove it, and when the opportunity arose, I took it. And technically, I didn't _lie_ to you."

Lysithea's brain short-circuited. "Wait, she... likes me?"

"See," he pointed at her with a finger. "That's what I mean. Didn't you hear what she said? Someone that she's grateful for, someone that understands. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be intrusive but..." He sighed, and he looked serious once again. "I've known Edelgard for a long time, I know what she's been through. And, well, I can also understand why she would feel comfortable with you. I'll say that much."

He knew, she realised, yet he didn't say anything. Linhardt did too, probably. Neither of them had said anything, neither of them had questioned her; it made so much sense. Then, her suspicions about Edelgard must have been true.

It wasn't exactly relieving to know that, though.

"But," Sylvain continued, a bit more energetically, "Yeah, pretty sure she likes you bud."

"That was extremely vague," she tried to say, but end up stuttering a bit. "How do you... I mean, wh-"

Sylvain sighed. "Once you leave, please talk to her, okay?" He grabbed and handed her a single purple flower - it was a hydrangea, she realised. "And again, I'm genuinely sorry about that."

Edelgard... liked her. Well, only possibly; there wasn't really anything that really proved it was true, just _assumptions,_ as he'd stated earlier on. Nevertheless, it made Lysithea feel a bit lighter, even the mere thought of it. She remembered her voice, how she spoke with such fondness when talking about the flower that she went out of her way to research. Could it really be...?

"How do you languages know?" she found herself asking. "Oh, I meant, um - how many do you know?"

Irritatingly, Sylvain grinned. "More than I should know, probably, I studied linguistics. But El is slowly catching up to me."

Lysithea wanted to hate him so much, but he hadn't really done anything ill-intentioned, hadn't really tried to mock her, just... He was just. Something. She couldn't think of anything, brain completely fried. "I see."

"Hey," he sat back down. "You can shout at my face if you want, or even slap me. I deserve it for that."

"I'm not going to. You were just trying to help, in a horrible way, but still. I'm not going to thank you either, though."

He blinked for a couple of seconds. "Yeah, um, I wasn't expecting you to. Are you _sure_ you don't want to at least call me an asshole, though?"

"I'm not calling you anything," she sighed. "You are Edelgard's friend after all."

And it wasn't just that; there was something about Sylvain that was familiar, it was the same way she had felt with both Edelgard and Linhardt. Like she was supposed to know them, she was supposed to meet them at this point, right in this shop. Was it weird? Certainly, but she couldn't shake the sense of familiarity off. Somehow, she knew she could trust these people, these strangers, these _oddly familiar_ strangers.

After getting Sylvain's number and sending him a threatening cat meme (and Sylvain stating she really was the same person as Edelgard), she left the shop still feeling a little bit dizzy. She wasn't going to dwell on what had happened that much, she wasn't going to think about it, if she could. But of course, it was hard not to, with every thought in her brain screaming the same words over and over again.

_Edelgard likes me._

Inside the car, she looked at the meme Sylvain had sent her first, before opening the group chat that has been dead for the past few weeks. She checked the food as she contemplated what she was going to say; they had gone cold, as expected.

 **[me at 14:52:** hey you two im in hamburg rn

 **[me at 14:52]:** are u busy? im thinking od dropping by

She wondered if there was a flower that symbolised lying. She hoped there wasn't.

* * *

**Fall: November 7th**

* * *

_"(...) When we meet somebody new, all of these fun chemicals flow, and we overlay a large portion of what we see, just- like, from our personal experience. So, we match them with things that are familiar."_

See, Lysithea had plans, her routine. Her days were always carefully planned out, not leaving any room for last-minute stuff or anything out of the ordinary. She was a busy person and had a lot to deal with, and she _could_ deal with everything because she moved through life so that there would be little to no unexpected details coming out of nowhere and ruining her plans.

Of course, that wasn't always the case. Like the moment Edelgard texted her and invited her to a birthday party.

The first text read: _we're throwing a party for Lin. I think it would be lovely if you were there to celebrate with us._ The second was sent two minutes afterwards: _if you can of course! no pressure.!!_

It was two days before his birthday when she had sent that. She had her whole week already planned out, she had an appointment on said day, and yet she had truly considered attending, just because it was _Edelgard_ (and well, Linhardt too). And here she was, on her way to the address she was sent, at eight in the evening (night?), schedule completely ruined yet excitement over the roof.

She hadn't seen Edelgard in person in nearly six months. Sure, they had eventually started talking more and more frequently, they sent each other a lot of pictures and they talked on the phone quite a lot too: but of course, it was not the same. As her schedule got busier and busier, it was hard to make time for anything else other than class, hospital and commissions. She was still so heartbroken that she couldn't attend Leonie's birthday, despite her telling her over and over again that it was completely fine and she was _glad_ Lysithea wasn't pushing herself more than she needed to.

Had it been another busy week, she probably wouldn't have gone out of her way to attend Lin's birthday, either, especially in such short notice, but here she was, listening to a podcast about love and tapping away, finally being able to wear her favourite cotton gloves without receiving any weird looks.

For the first time, she was going to see Edelgard outside the flower shop.

It was an exciting thought, to be able to see her in a different place, without worrying about the amount of time they would be able to spend together for the first time. It was also nerve-wracking since she didn't know what she should expect, who she would see there along with many other minor issues that shouldn't really be that big of a deal. It was... new.

She hated not knowing what awaited her there, yet at the same time, she was curious to find out what the night would bring. She felt all kinds of different emotions at once, as the GPS announced that she had arrived at her destination. It was a cafe-restaurant, the map had told her as much, but it was fancier than she had anticipated, and maybe busier as well. Really, really busy. Something started to push through amongst all of her feelings and emotions: doubt.

When she got out of her car and walked towards the building Lysithea realised there was a long line in front of the door, no doubt people waiting because there were no empty tables available anymore. Some of them had umbrellas with them, despite the fact that it wasn't supposed to rain any time soon. Was she supposed to cut in? Would that be rude? But there was really no other way of getting in, she knew that Edelgard and Linhardt, along with other friends, were in there because they had a reservation. So the best thing to do-

"Can I help you?"

In front of her stood a woman with short dark hair, looking very angry and intimidating. When had she even arrived at the door?

"We currently don't have any empty tables," she said curtly. "I'm going to have to ask you to wait in line."

Lysithea looked behind to see the people in line staring at her with murderous intent. She gulped. "Um, actually, my friends- they're inside already."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "In that case, I apologise. There was indeed a few groups that notified us about friends joining them." She pulled out a notebook seemingly out of thin air. "Name?"

"It's, ah, Lysithea."

After a second, the woman's face slightly brightened. "Oh, you're with the Eagles. Go ahead, they're at table thirty." She pointed at the back of the restaurant vaguely, and Lysithea thanked her awkwardly before heading inside. What was it that she had called them? It sounded a lot like _noble._

The restaurant was very lively, with waiters running around, yet it wasn't too loud, and she could hear the light, acoustic music coming from the speakers. The atmosphere inside was quite friendly, warm, and it smelled _great -_ she realised she hadn't really eaten anything since eleven in the morning, and she was starving. Looking at the numbers on the tables, she slowly walked through the gaps and tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone, until she saw two, no, _three_ familiar faces amongst a group of friends that were sitting at a booth right next to the bar.

She caught a glimpse of Hubert first; he looked almost exactly the same as the first and last time she'd seen him: dressed completely in black, a scowl on his face, towering over everyone else even when he was sitting. Next to him was Linhardt, and she was surprised to see that his hair was tied neatly in a bun, and he looked more awake than usual. He was dressed pretty casually compared to the others, as much as she could see.

Edelgard, on the other hand. Edelgard looked _gorgeous:_ she had a white beret with a red stripe on that matched her red, long-sleeved blouse and gloves. She could also make out the sight of the deep red colour on her lips, prominent enough to stand out even from where Lysithea stood. Looking at her, she was starting to regret she hadn't put that much thought into her own outfit and only wore some basic jeans and a sweatshirt.

It was hard to not stare at Edelgard and the way she laughed, not bothering to cover her mouth for once. She looked... relaxed, like she was enjoying herself. Lysithea found herself smiling at the thought.

She hesitated to approach them. What was she supposed to do? Going up to the table in the middle of their conversation and simply introducing herself to a group of people felt weird, childish almost, but what else was she supposed to do? They were six people, Lysithea counted, so she already knew three of them; though it was a fact that she'd only seen Hubert once, and had never talked to him. Nevertheless, that meant she'd seen half of the group before; and in the end, they were Edelgard's friends - and Linhardt's. _And_ _Hubert's._ There was nothing to worry about.

There was _nothing_ to worry about, so she headed there slowly.

"Hey," she greeted everyone meekly, and six pair of eyes suddenly turned to her at once. "Sorry, it took longer than I thought to get here."

Linhardt waved at her. "It's fine, welcome. Everyone, this is-"

"Lysithea!" Edelgard nearly shrieked as she said her name, causing everyone else to startle. Her eyes were glistening and she had a big, stupid grin on her face. "I mean, um," she coughed into her fist, "Yeah, this is Lysithea. Glad you're... here."

The woman with magenta hair gave Edelgard a weird look before greeting her. "It is nice to meet you! My name is Petra."

"I'm Dorothea," the brunette next to her said in a sing-song voice as she gave her a small nod. "I've heard a lot of things about you! Glad I can put a face to the name."

Lysithea flushed. "Oh, what things-"

"What a pleasure to be finally able to meet you," the orange man suddenly got up and grabbed one of her hands. "I am Ferdinand! Thank you so much for coming all the way here to celebrate this wonderful occasion with us, I'm sure you must be exhausted after driving for a long time. Why don't you take a seat?"

"Yeah," she managed out, squeezing Ferdinand's hand before she pulled away. "Sure... Nice to meet you."

When she sat down next to Dorothea, facing the people she'd already known before, she saw Hubert staring at her like he was about to strangle her. "I didn't get the chance to introduce myself when we first saw each other," he said quietly. "The name is Hubert."

"Nice to meet you," Lysithea repeated slowly, too scared to break eye contact: thankfully, Hubert was the first one to look away. She turned her attention to Linhardt. "And, yeah, happy birthday."

"Yeah okay, thanks, whatever... Now," Linhardt clapped his hands unenthusiastically, "since Lysithea is here too, we can finally order. I'm _starving._ "

Petra rolled her eyes beside her. "You ate pizza an hour ago."

"I don't see how that's relevant."

After they ordered, Edelgard started introducing everyone one by one enthusiastically. Petra was a transfer student from the Philippines and on her last year of university; she was a political science major. Ferdinand was a childhood friend of Hubert's, though Hubert didn't seem to like the fact that Edelgard mentioned it. He had studied law in the UK and was now doing his masters here, after some personal issues with his family. And Dorothea was the friend that used to work at the flower shop-

("Wait," Lysithea interrupted. "So _you're_ the one that gave them the hideous aprons?"

The brunette giggled. "Hideous? Come on, they're not _that bad,_ it really puts you in the right mood! Just ask Lin."

"No, they really are hideous," Linhardt simply said. "But you're right, it still helps me focus during work.")

and she was currently a professional actor at a state theatre in Vienna. She already knew a bit about Hubert, and Edelgard didn't really bother saying anything about him, so she also didn't bother asking. She wasn't sure if anyone would even say anything if she had.

There were apparently two more people in their friend group who couldn't make it: one of them was _Bernie_ , she was unable to come because of her current project. "She is an animator," Petra explained. "She is working for kids. This is a big project." Then there was _Casper_ who had started to travel around the world a few months ago, completely unplanned. They tried to call him, but he didn't answer the phone.

Eventually, their food came and the conversation strayed to more personal stuff; all Lysithea could do was sit and listen in silence, only speaking if she was expected to. She wasn't really feeling out of place, thankfully everyone there constantly made sure she was comfortable and even asked for her input at times. They were all nice and friendly, and of course, they felt comfortable after knowing one another for a long time. Somehow, their comfort provided Lysithea with some too.

Until they all started speaking about a familiar name.

"Every passing day, Dorothea," said Linhardt sipping on his strawberry milkshake, "you become more and more like Sylvain."

There was a collective gasp and Dorothea looked like she was about to shred Linhardt into pieces. "How dare you... How _dare you?_ "

"I'm sure he did not mean it in such a way!" Ferdinand tried to grab one of her arms but she shrugged him off, still staring at Lin. "It was... It was just a mere compliment, was it not-"

"Please," Hubert interrupted him. "There is no way around this."

Edelgard sighed and turned her attention to Lysithea, who was sitting completely still. "Sylvain is a childhood friend of mine. He's... Well, I genuinely don't know how to explain what he is like."

Because Edelgard didn't know that Lysithea had already met him. They never talked about it, his name was never once brought up, and Sylvain explicitly told her he never mentioned about their encounter to Edelgard nor Linhardt. She was completely oblivious to the fact that Lysithea knew a Sylvain, that she knew The Sylvain in question.

"Did you know-"

"Linhardt, no, we're not talking about that-"

" _Did you know,_ " Linhardt started again, cutting Edelgard off. She groaned and sank in her seat. "Edelgard apparently had a crush on this one girl, yeah? And Sylvain says she was, like, completely starstruck or something, and so his dumb ass tried to get these two together. And it went... horribly wrong."

"Of course it did," Hubert snorted, "it's Sylvain."

Linhardt then turned to Edelgard. "Do you want to tell the story?"

"Sylvain's graduation," she started, sounding half annoyed, half embarrassed. "I attended it because of _course_ I would, and she was there too because of her brother. I was trying to avoid her for a _reason_ but Sylvain decided randomly that he would make her talk to me, somehow. So I see him talking to her, and I don't approach them because _why_ would I? And they're laughing, drinking, having fun, whatever. Not that it matters. I didn't approach them."

Dorothea sighed. "But, of course, you went near enough that you were able to listen in."

"Okay, I was not _listening in_ ," she protested. "I _overheard_ them. Sylvain said- _what if, hypothetically, someone in this room is head over heels for you,_ which I was not, and she was like _oh don't worry, I know who it is,_ and you know what she did? She walked right past me and went to- God, she went up to another girl and started talking about how she was sorry and how she didn't have any feelings for her. And Sylvain was just looking at her in shock, and I didn't even know what to do and, and-"

The story sounded... familiar. "Um, what was the girl's name?" She asked slowly.

Edelgard furrowed her eyebrows. "It's... Hilda. Why do you-"

"Goneril?"

Suddenly, everything went silent. The two were staring at each other in complete, utter shock while the others were trying to make out what the issue was.

Dorothea suddenly broke the silence, "Wait - _holy shit,_ don't tell me..."

"You know Edelgard's high school crush?" Ferdinand asked loudly, causing her to startle.

"It's- yeah, I actually _lived_ with Hilda for three years."

Edelgard gasped at a sudden realisation. "On that day, when you came to the shop. It was- your friend, from Milan. Oh my god." She started laughing out of nowhere, clearly still in shock. "I can't _fucking believe this._ "

"So that means you two met on the infamous girl's birthday..." Linhardt looked incredibly amused, more than he previously was. "You met _because_ of her, in fact."

"Linhardt," Edelgard grumbled, completely flushed. "Please shut your god damn mouth, I'm begging you."

He shrugged. "You haven't really begged yet." In response, Edelgard put her head on the table and let out another long groan.

Petra looked concerned but didn't say anything to her, instead she turned her attention to Lysithea. "Did you know?"

"Hilda did talk about thinking this one girl had a crush on her and telling her she didn't feel the same.... Only for the other girl to tell her she had no idea what she was talking about, that she had a boyfriend, and then leave her there. Sometimes she blames it on the red- well, I guess she blames it on _Sylvain._ "

Hubert sighed and leaned on his back, arms crossed. "This is likely the stupidest story I have ever heard in my life."

"Then we should stop talking about it!" Edelgard stood back up with a forced smile on her face. "Can we bring out the cake already? It's getting late."

Dorothea checked her phone. "Half an hour 'til ten, that's not too late."

"Nope!" She protested. "Super late, I'm already feeling pretty tired. Don't you guys want cake, because I _really-"_

They did bring out the cake and sang a silly birthday song (or rather, the other said the words half-heartedly as Ferdinand and Dorothea harmonised with each other loudly, causing everyone around them to look their way). Everyone gave Linhardt their gifts one by one: it was two boxes of chocolate from Petra, a board game from Hubert and a few books from Dorothea. _Bernie_ had also sent her gift with Hubert, it was a hand-knit scarf. Edelgard had given hers in the morning.

Linhardt thanked them all before he turned to the orange-haired man with anticipation. "And what about yours, Ferdinand?"

"Oh, mine is- uh, I did not bring it with," he stammered. "I'll give it to you when we- when we get home. I mean, ahem, _my house._ "

Lysithea looked at Edelgard, pointing at the two. Edelgard sighed before she mouthed _I'll tell you later_.

Eventually, they all got up and hugged one another, wishing Linhardt a happy birthday one last time. Apparently, he was going to Ferdinand's for the night, so Edelgard was going home alone. "Don't stay up too late, okay? I don't want you to mess up your schedule again... And don't worry about me, I'll just take the subway, no big deal," she told him as she hugged him tightly.

"Who said I would?" he asked, but he sounded fond.

"If you want," Lysithea said out of nowhere, as the two separated from each other and looked at her, "I could drive you home? You know, just offering."

Edelgard's eyes went wide. "I- uh."

"I think she would _love_ that," Dorothea chimed in. "Wouldn't you, Edie?"

Everyone was looking at her, and she was looking at Lysithea. "No, it's alright. I really don't want to be a bother."

Funny, because she remembered saying those exact words to Edelgard when they had met for the first time when she was looking for shelter. Funny that Edelgard had reassured her more than once on that day to make sure she was feeling comfortable, and now she was the one in need of help. Did she truly believe it would be a bother for Lysithea?

"You wouldn't be, it's already basically on my way," she offered a reassuring smile. "I really don't mind."

Edelgard stayed silent a bit longer. "Okay," she eventually breathed, "sure. Thank you."

The two left the restaurant after saying their goodnights, ("It was nice meeting you," Petra had said to Lysithea before she followed Edelgard outside, a serious expression on her face "keep Edelgard safe.") and headed to the parking lot together. It had started raining, but it was light enough that they didn't need an umbrella that much. Still, Lysithea hurried to open the doors and made sure they got in quickly.

"If it's gonna be a problem," blurted out Edelgard, "I really don't mind taking the subway. I swear."

"Edelgard, you're already in the car, aren't you? It won't be a problem, _I_ _swear_." She started the engine and turned on the radio before she drove away; classical music was playing on the current station, and though she wasn't really a big fan of it the other woman probably enjoyed it, so she didn't change it.

The silence after that didn't last long, as Edelgard let out a sigh, clearly bothered. "I can't believe you actually know Hilda. I can't believe you're _friends_ with Hilda."

Lysithea giggled. "What are the chances, right? And the fact that we met on her birthday-"

"I don't even wanna think about that," she interrupted. "Let's pretend it was past midnight already by then, alright?"

"Why? It's really not that embarrassing."

Edelgard flushed. "Of course it is! I really wish I'd known it... What's next, you know Sylvain too?" She sounded half-amused while saying that and it was clear that she was waiting for an answer, but all Lysithea could do was press her lips into a thin line as she gripped the steering wheel harder. Had it been warm enough inside the car, she might have started sweating too. "...Lysithea?"

"Do you remember," she said, but her voice was cracked in the middle of it. She started again. "Remember when I messaged you two saying I was in Hamburg? Yeah, I... I did pay the shop a visit that day. Before I sent those messages, actually."

It felt horrifying to admit it, because not only would it mean that she had met Sylvain, but also that she likely knew about Edelgard's condition back then.

The silence was unbearable, but Lysithea couldn't bring herself to speak, nor could she take her eyes off the road and look to her side. The classic music continued, the melody turning into something soul-wrenching, and it sounded magical with the rain outside pouring harder every second. It felt like a movie scene, a very tense one. Maybe she shouldn't have denied it to avoid the discomfort, but having lied to Edelgard, or having _deceived_ her, she couldn't. After months of overthinking it, she knew she had to bring it up.

"I'm sorry I never told you," was what she said eventually. "I don't know why I didn't, but-"

"Probably because he told you I was at the hospital."

Edelgard sounded... so small. Vulnerable. Lysithea almost looked at her, but she was scared to do it: she wanted to give Edelgard as much space as she could inside the car.

"Could be," she admitted, "but don't get me wrong, I wasn't... upset with you, if that's what you're thinking. It was nothing that I was _supposed_ to know, after all."

"I still-" The song ended abruptly and the ads started playing. Edelgard hurriedly turned the radio off. "You... understand it, don't you? Vaguely, at least."

And that made Lysithea steal a quick glance at her direction, as she saw her looking at her with such a soft expression, she could melt. "I believe I do."

The silence was settling in slowly, it wasn't tense any more. After a few more minutes they arrived at the shop, and Lysithea parked in front of it. She wasn't exactly expecting Edelgard to just get out of the car after wishing her goodbye, not entirely, but she was still caught off guard when she heard her say, "Would you like to come inside for a bit?"

(She still looked very fragile, like she could break any second.)

"Only for a few minutes," she said. "The sooner I get home, the better."

It was colder than usual inside the shop, most likely because Lysithea was used to the heaters always being on whenever she came here. Automatically, she sat down at the table at the corner and watched Edelgard take off her coat and, sadly, her beret. "I'm not going to ask if you'd like to drink anything this time."

Lysithea giggled. "Good, because I might not be able to resist the offer this time."

"Did you really have to say it like that? Now I _have to do it_ ," she giggled as well as she looked around. "Actually, I do have something else to offer."

"What is it?"

She watched Edelgard grab a single white rose and walk up to the table. "I realised I never actually gave you any flowers when you were here, so..."

Lysithea took the flower from her. "A rose, huh?"

"It's a classic, isn't it?" she asked, rubbing her hands together. "You know, I always hated how red roses are supposed to be, you know, deep, passionate; whereas white roses are pure, calmer... Maybe that's just me, I don't know. I don't understand flowers."

"I get it," is all she said in response. "I think they both compliment you, the red and the white. Not just roses either, but the colours, and the... um. I don't know where I'm going with this." As she heard Edelgard giggle, she got up from her seat and looked directly into her eyes. "And what does it mean? The rose, I mean."

Edelgard nervously scratched her cheek. "You know I'm not the flower expert. It's whatever you want it-"

"I like you."

When she blurted it out, it didn't feel sudden, or embarrassing, or anything other than... freeing. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and now she could fly as high as possible, like she could do anything in the world. And watching Edelgard flush slowly was everything she could have asked for.

"Oh," was the only thing that spilt from her lips.

"Yeah," was Lysithea's response to that.

"Good thing I like you too, then."

And maybe it was the familiar awkwardness that led her to do it, or the way Edelgard looked; but when she leaned in and kissed her, it was everything Lysithea could have hoped for.

* * *

~~**Winter**~~ **Love: February 27th**

* * *

_"Over your shoulders, I can see the fifth season; this is the first feeling that thrilled me. Your smile makes my heart beat."_

"I think they look even more beautiful from a distance," Lysithea mumbled into Edelgard's ear, as she nodded in agreement. "The white ones among the others, especially."

Winter was harsher than usual this year, it especially has been incredibly destructive the past couple of days. There was a snowstorm outside, just as there had been a year ago, the night they had met. And now they were in Lysithea's apartment, cuddling under a blanket: she was drawing on her tablet while Edelgard played with her hair.

"To be quite honest, I'm not sure what camellias are supposed to mean" she admitted.

Lysithea tapped the pen on her nose. "We can look it up later. They're pretty anyway, so it's fine. "

"Don't let Linhardt hear that." They both huffed at the same time, then giggled at their harmony. "Were you not going to show me something?"

"Right, let me find it." She closed her current work and started going through a bunch before she spotted it. "It's still in progress, so... You know."

Edelgard grabbed the tablet from her hands and looked at the drawing, her eyes growing the longer she stared at it. She stopped playing with Lysithea's hair to hold it with both hands as if she was hypnotised by it. "This is... really good, Lysithea. Well, I don't know enough words to explain how beautiful this is."

"Of course it's beautiful... It's you," she explained with fondness, "lying in the middle of a forest, surrounded by snowdrops."

Edelgard hummed with a big smile on her face. "Snowdrops? Do you know what it is that they symbolise?"

Lysithea smiled back at her. "Yes, I do... they symbolise hope."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry if the writing was too notably inconsistent or some stuff just didn't make sense. You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/edlethea).


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